The fatty acid ratios, which are related to human health, are shown too in Table 3. The 2-
years frozen pork had the lowest PUFA/SFA ratio and produced meat with less nutritional
value (for human consumption), under the nutritional guidelines for PUFA/SFA > 0.4 [13].
Also, the n-6/n-3 ratio was higher after freezing. It could be due to the n-3 fatty acids are
more easily oxidized [14] and its drop would be much greater than the n-6 fatty acids in
frozen pork.
CONCLUSION
4
Meat quality parameters were significantly altered by freezing of pork during two years,
causing an increase in pH values and drip losses and a decrease in the colour measurements (a*
and b* values). The intramuscular fatty acid profile also was affected during frozen storage
resulting in a decrease in the percentage of PUFA, which modified the remaining percentages
and made lipid profile less healthy for human consumption.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank UVE S.A. company for financial support. We also thank the Animal Production
personnel (especially M.M. Campo) at the Faculty of Veterinary for their scientific and technical
assistance.